


Not According To Plan

by Claireton



Category: Punch-Out!! (Video Games), Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Arguing, Cheesy flashbacks that totally weren't added just so I could feel better about the word count, Existing friendship, F/M, High Tempers, Profanity, Reader aint take no shit, Reader-Insert, Time Skips, is it still a one shot if the one chapter is pretty long, why dont you read it and decide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-07 19:57:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5469041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claireton/pseuds/Claireton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You finally work up the courage to tell Mac how you feel, but it doesn't go quite as you had hoped.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not According To Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey! Hope you enjoy!

You inspected yourself in the mirror once again,  trying to ensure you looked exactly as you had planned. As you might have expected, nothing had changed since you checked for the fifth time twenty seconds ago, but you felt no harm in just being sure.

Tonight was going to be a big night for everyone. Mac had his big fight just next door, Doc was about to see his favourite boxer win a big title, and you were going to use all of the celebration and cheer to finally get around to telling Mac how you felt about him.  Normally, you would have been down there with Doc, roaring support for Mac until your voice grew raw, despite having little to no interest in the actual sport of boxing itself. Both Doc and Mac himself knew this, so when you told them before the fight that you would come down as soon as it was over, neither seemed to mind at all. All of the time you had to prepare was a blessing; getting yourself to look exactly how you thought Mac would like proved to be far from any concept of simple. He had told you many times while you were watching people from café corners or the like how he hated when girls completely caked themselves in makeup. Of course, he had no idea how much things like that would come to mean to you in the future, and in truth, neither had you. These feelings you held for Mac had only developed somewhat recently, inexplicably so following almost a lifetime of friendship. You had been there for him the first time he had won a big tournament, for his injuries, and even the first time he cried when he _lost_ a big tournament. So each time you scrubbed your face red and began to redo your makeup, it felt worth it, especially for Mac.

Besides, it wasn't as if the friendship was entirely one sided. Mac would always lend you support where you needed it too. He had been there to help you calm down when you lost your first tennis tournament, and subsequently broke your racket in two in the changing rooms. There was the time where you ex boyfriend had cheated on you, too: Mac had jokingly offered to go teach him a lesson, and though you would never admit it, at the time you had actually considered it. On top of all that, he always brought you along on these exciting trips from place to place when he was participating in a tournament. The most you had done for him in that regard was pay for a taxi to the gym on an incredibly rainy day. One time.

You turned and looked across the room, fidgeting with the hem of your shirt anxiously. You and Mac had been sharing the hotel rooms while Doc had his own for such a long time now that it would feel weird to do it any other way. Your side of the room was near spotless, with your bed neatly made and everything in a respectable order, while Mac's was a mess, just as it always was. His bed looked as if someone had just come in and had a serious fight with the sheets rather than sleeping in it, and drawers lay half open with used socks dangling precariously about. Had your part of the room been like that, you probably would have fainted, but there was something endearing about the way Mac just carelessly handled it.

With a glance at the clock, you dashed into the bathroom for one last checkup before heading for the door. Pulling it open, you turned your head to inspect the room again, wondering how different things might be if you actually managed to go through with this.

You half sprinted to the elevator in your excitement and hammered the button relentlessly. Thankfully, it was late, or the hallway would probably have been full of people to see you acting as though you might have a screw loose. The doors remained shut for longer than you expected, and you moved for the stairs while muttering curses, though as soon as you reached them the familiar sound of the elevator arriving rang out. Hastily turning on your heel and nearly leaping through the doors, you swallowed your embarrassment when a middle aged man stared at you from inside. You cleared your throat quietly before lightly pressing the button for the ground floor and stepping back with your hands in your pockets. Though you were sure it only existed from your perspective, the awkward tension grew with each second until at last the man stepped out for his own floor. You loosed a breath and pulled out your phone, lighting it up to check the time: 10:30pm. Before you put it away again, you smiled faintly at your wallpaper: A photo of you and Mac with your faces smeared with ice-cream, yourself clearly not wanting to be in such a photo. To your personal embarrassment, it was only a year and a half ago, rather than being little kids, so you still remembered as if it were yesterday.

\------

It had been a sweltering summer day, with just about every single person in shorts or some other type of skimpy clothing. After much pleading and complaining, you had finally convinced Mac to stop training for a day and just come down to the beach to relax with you. Normally, you would have gone with some other friends, and left Mac to train as he liked, but this time you had felt bad about the thought of leaving him by himself, especially since Doc himself had gone to do some other 'important' work.

For three hours you had been relaxing in the beach, beginning to wonder if it was possible to literally melt in such heat. As you lay with your eyes closed and your body splayed on a towel, you had heard Mac shifting around. You assumed he was just heading for the water to cool off, as he had done multiple times that day, so you remained still and relaxed. After a while, it dawned on you that Mac had been in the water for a very long time, and you sat up with your eyes aimed at the water just in time to see him  strolling over to you with two ice creams in his hands, a smirk on his face.

"Sorry." he sighed, handing you one before he lowered himself back onto his own towel.

"The line was crazy. I think some woman was buying for the whole Brady Bunch."

You scoffed before taking a look at your ice cream. It was precisely the way you liked it, down to only having sprinkles on the top. You were a little flattered that Mac remembered exactly how you liked it.

"Thanks, Mac, really. i can't believe you got it perfect." you commented, turning it around absently in your hand. For whatever reason, you hasn't wanted to taste yours first, as if Mac buying it meant he should get first go or something equally as silly.

" 'course I did. Think I could be friends with you this long and not notice how weird you are?" he teased, holding a smirk as he looked at you, his face the slightest bit moist with perspiration.

"Uh, excuse me." you said in a faux offended tone.

" _I'm_ not the one who almost needs to be dragged out of a smelly old gym to enjoy a day like this." you countered, a smile of your own growing.

"Right, like you could drag me anywhere." he joked, staring into your eyes in a jokingly challenging fashion.

You began to respond, though you knew when you were beaten. You certainly weren't unfit, but you certainly wouldn't have much luck at all if it came to physical contents against Mac.

"Just eat your stupid ice cream." you muttered, looking to the water in a half pout.

You tried to savour your food, both of you silently watching the various beach goers doing whatever as they soaked in the sun. At that time, you barely resisted rolling your eyes each time a collection of girls walked past. Nearly every single time, one would catch sight of Mac, promptly burying her head in the group to tell the others before the entire ensemble turned their heads like hungry seagulls. Back then, your more intimate feelings for Mac were non existent, though looking back on it you couldn't believe yourself. Thanks to the heat, he had only donned a pair of shorts, setting his buffed body in display for world to see. Occasionally, you would look back at him to see how he felt about the whole thing, though he never seemed to actually take notice. You had felt as though the only reason none had approached was because it looked as if you were his girlfriend.

By the time you saw the same collection of girls walk past for the third time, the uncomfortable silence was almost tangible, so you broke it with the only thing that came to mind.

"Jeez, no matter how much of this I eat, it isn't cooling me at _all_." you sighed, staring at your half gone ice cream in defeat.

"Well, that's 'cuz it's only going on the inside. why don't you go to the water too?" Mac offered. It looked as though his own ice cream wasn't doing him any favours either.

"Oh, I would, but you can't go in for an hour after eating." you said lamely, making an attempt to hide the fact that you were just too lazy and hot to get up.

Unfortunately, Mac knew all too well when you were just being lazy.

"Oh, I'm sure that's _totally_ the reason." he agreed jokingly.

"They're the _rules_ , Mac. The god damn _rules._ Society can't function without rules." you insisted, reinforcing your lame excuse.

"Okay then, how about.." Mac stopped speaking for a moment to jab the top of his ice cream around your nose.

"That?"

You stopped for a moment, processing what had happened before you groaned in a mix of disgust and laughter.

"Mac, that was in your _mouth!_ " you whined, half laughing through your words. You attempted to wipe it with your free hand but it only thinned and spread on your face more. Mac's laughter grew as you whined in trying to remove the food from your face. Soon deeming it a useless endeavor, you turned to Mac and thrust your own ice cream at him, catching his cheek with a large dollop of it. He chuckled and wiped his cheek briefly before pressing his ice cream into you again, this time catching your jawline. Back and forth you continued stabbing one another with the frozen food, roaring fake battle cries until you were left with empty cones and faces covered in half melted masks.

You sighed in exhaustion, sitting back and unable to stop yourself laughing once you were able to get a full look at Mac without hands flying around between you. Melted ice cream drops threatened to fall from his face, and some way or another you had managed to get the ice cream into his hair, leaving a white patch in the otherwise dark mess.

"Truce?" he offered, holding out a messy hand.

You regarded him suspiciously before grabbing the hand and shaking it.

"Truce." you agreed.

" _Now_ I want to go to the water." you declared.

You climbed to your feet, abandoning the massacred ice cream cone to start heading for the water. Your journey was stopped and you yelped when Mac's arm grabbed you to pull you back.

"Not yet you aren't." he stated, easily turning you around to find him holding out his phone out and pointing the camera at the pair of you.

"Say cheese!"

"Aw, Mac, no!" you protested, struggling in futility against his grip before you heard the chirping sound from the device.

"Sorry, (firstname)! Too late!" he chuckled, stuffing the phone away before you could manage to grab it.

Regardless, you charged him and struggled for his pocket. Bad photos weren't the worst thing to happen to anyone, but that one was just downright embarrassing.

After a moment, you had actually managed to get your hand into his pocket before you felt his arms suddenly wrap around you and near effortlessly hoist you up over his shoulder.

"Mac! Put me down right now!" you roared, smacking his back.

"Sorry, (firstname). Didn't you say you wanted to head to the water, though?" he asked slyly. From your position, you could see the towels move further away as he made way for the water.

"Mac, _no._ " you warned, though laughter was starting to break through your annoyed demeanor.

"Mac, I swear if you-"

"Whoops!" he called, not even trying to make it sound sincere as he threw you back over his shoulder and into the water, laughing at your wails of protest.

\----

Your reminiscing was stopped when the elevator doors pulled open, leaving you to stuff the phone back in your pocket as you stepped towards the reception doors. The moment you stepped out you were met with the mixture of sounds that rang from the arena close by. You approached, struggling past the throngs of drunken people outside and barely getting inside unscathed after confirming your identity with the security guard.

With a confused frown you looked up and down the hallways. Usually by this point Doc would be warding off frantic paparazzi to give Mac some breathing room, but here the only noise was your own footsteps as you made for the locker room.

Even there it was strangely quiet inside as you approached, and you began to believe you had managed to arrive early in your excitement.

 You stepped into the room and blinked in surprise to see Mac sitting alone hunched on a bench, facing away from the door and looking at the ground. Taking a moment to attempt to control your heart rate, your nerves overpowered your curiosity at the emptiness as you walked forward, slapping on your brightest smile before stopping beside him.  
  
"Hey, how's my favourite boxer?" you asked excitedly, bouncing on your toes ever so slightly. You frowned a little when Mac didn't so much as raise his head, but shrugged it off and fell beside him in seating.  
  
"So, what's your new title now? Are you hurt bad?" you wondered. Still receiving no answer, your heart twitched with added on nerves, but you were determined not to let it show.  
  
"Hello? Earth to Mac.." you joked, waving your hand around his line of vision. At this point, the lack of response was the tiniest bit annoying.  
  
"Mac, what's w-" you began, but you were cut off when Mac muttered something under his breath.  
  
"What? I didn't hear you, Mac. Wha-" you tried.  
  
"I didn't win." Mac snapped, raising his head but still not looking at you.  
  
For a brief moment, you couldn't believe what you had heard, but it quickly made sense. Win or not, you didn't like to see him this way, but maybe what you had planned would just have to wait for another day.  
  
"Oh, well.." you said softly, trying to think of the best words to come up with.  
  
"That's okay, Mac. Not that big a deal, right? It's just one loss."  
  
You regretted the words almost immediately when Mac's gaze finally snapped to you in a way it never had before: with anger and frustration.  
  
"Not that big a deal? Jesus Christ, (firstname), I know you're not into boxing but even _you_ can't believe that."

You were lost for words. In all honesty, you thought Mac was being a bit dramatic about the whole thing, but at the same time you knew how much this all meant to him. He hadn't ever acted so cold toward you before, but you did your best not to take it personally. Letting yourself get angry too wasn't going to help anything.  
  
"You're hurt." you said quietly, not sure how else to respond as you regarded the bruises and cuts on his face.  
  
"No shit." Mac responded bitterly.  
  
You let out a quiet sigh and grabbed the first aid kit from under the bench, opening it up on your lap and taking out the necessary items to clean up his face a little. You were no expert with the stuff but you had seen him injured enough times to have a fair idea.  
  
"Here." you said, waiting for him to turn to you. He didn't.  
  
"Mac, let me clean you up." you requested, getting up and kneeling in front of him.  
  
He didn't protest when your hand lifted his chin slightly, but as soon as the cloth hit his face he recoiled from you. At this point, you were beginning to get quite annoyed at his behaviour, and you knew you were short of giving some back, but instead of trying to force it you relented for a moment and waited for him to settle down again. Once he did, you moved back in, only to have him resist again.  
  
"Mac, would you stop? I'm trying to help." you demanded, though your voice was much less assertive than you had hoped.  
  
"I'm fine." he responded.  
  
"Well, clearly not. You're bleeding." you insisted, raising the cloth again.

"I said I'm fine!" Mac yelled, standing up suddenly and making you jump with the sudden intensity.

Unfortunately, you had too much pride to let someone you were trying to help get away with acting like this, and after a moment of shock you felt your own temper flare through your previous feelings. You stomped back to where you had been sitting and crammed the cloth back into the first aid kit while Mac stood facing away from you. Around his side, you could see him massaging his hand the way he always did when something was troubling him.

"Mac, I'm trying to help, but if you want to sit there and sulk a child-" you began, intending to give him a piece of your mind.

"Oh, would you just shut up, _for once_?! Can you do that?!" Mac barked, turning to face you. Now, his fists were clenched up near his chest.

"You know what, Mac? Fuck you." you spat in response, taking your frustration out of the first aid kit by sweeping it to the floor with a frustrated smack.

With your gaze on the mess you made, you jumped again when a loud crash rang out from Mac's position. Your head swiveled round to find him with his hands now clenched by his side, and a sizable dent in the closest locker.

"Just go." he growled. It was easy to hear in his voice that he was holding back some real rage.

"Gladly." you responded, crushing some stray first aid supplies underfoot as you marched out of the room, not looking back.

You almost walked straight into Doc as you rounded the corner, stopping just in time to prevent it.

"Woah, what's the rush girl?" Doc asked, regarding you with a confused frown.

"Not now, Doc." you said quietly, stepping around him. In spite of your anger, you knew Doc wasn't the one to take it out on.

\--

You slammed the door of your hotel room, still seething, but now that you were alone an immense sadness spontaneously came upon you and you found your eyes watering before you had even made it to your bed.  Broken, shallow breaths wracked your body as you took seat and buried your face in your hands. This morning, you had woken up beside yourself with nervous excitement at what you had planned to do, but now it was all ruined. Your mind tripped over itself repeatedly as you replayed the events in your head, unable to stop yourself in your grief. Some reasoned voice made its way from the back of your mind, insisting that you get some rest, and not seeing many other options, you complied. You rose from your bed and haphazardly threw your jacket to the floor before making your way to the bathroom, cleaning yourself up and getting changed. You climbed into bed, clinging the sheets tightly in a form of self comforting. After some shuffling, sleep ended up coming with surprising swiftness.

\---

You awoke the next morning, quickly sitting up and stretching before the memories of last night came rushing back to you. Suddenly drained of any enthusiasm, you swung your legs to the side and stole a glance at Mac. He hadn't woken yet, and you felt yourself looking for longer than you had intended. He looked so impossibly calm in comparison to last night, simply laying there with the sheets just up to his chest. Apparently, he had allowed Doc to treat him, because the marks on his face had reduced quite a bit since the last time you saw him. Something in you wanted to wake him and apologize, but you simply couldn't bring yourself to do it, so instead you resolved to just get ready to go back home with them.

You looked down to prevent tripping over your discarded jacket, but rather than being sprawled on the floor you found it neatly folded on your dresser. You stared at it for a few moments, curious. You were certain that you had thrown it to the floor last night, but perhaps you had folded it and forgotten in your exhaustion. You looked to Mac one final time before going into the bathroom and starting to get yourself ready. In the process, you looked at the makeup that you had spent so long applying last night, and with a saddened sigh packed it away. How ironic that you hadn't been there to see him lose because you were up in the room, otherwise you would have been better prepared to comfort him.

You pulled open the door after getting dressed and came to a sudden stop when you nearly walked straight into Mac. He stood in a simple t-shirt and sweats, as wide eyed with surprise as you were as you stared at each other. With the space only being small, you both shuffled from one side to the other trying to pass one another, and though you wanted to, laughing felt like the most inappropriate thing in the world at that moment. Eventually, Mac relented and stood against the wall so that you could pass, and you nodded before stepping forward.

"Thanks." you said, unable to stop a little chuckle in your voice.

You were almost certain you caught him smirking, but you were afraid to look too long so you continued on and pulled your suitcase up on the bed, packing everything in neatly and zipping it before putting it to the floor and making the bed. By the time you had finished, Mac was over to his own bed, carelessly stuffing everything in as he always did. You extended the handle of your suitcase and made it to the door before stopping. This morning hadn't held the air of extreme awkwardness and anger you had thought it would, and you didn't want Mac to think that you were still as mad as you had been last night, so you decided to break the silence before leaving.

"I-uh, I'm just gonna-like, I'll go wait with Doc.." you mumbled. Not as smooth and casual as you had planned it to be.

"Cool." you heard in response as you stepped out.

\--

You arrived in the lobby to find Doc sitting in one of the luxurious seats, his own packed things beside him.

"Hey." you said, sitting on the chair closest.

"Hey." he replied softly. "Mac told me what happened. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Doc." you answered, nodding.

"Thanks."

"By the sound of how it went down, I guess you didn't tell him." he continued, his voice somewhat hushed.

You looked to him in confusion, perking an eyebrow with your heart twitching ever so slightly.

"Tell him what, Doc?" you wondered.

"Come on, girl." he chuckled, shaking his head slowly.

"Mac might be inexperienced when it comes to relationships, but I'm not. I see the way you been lookin' at him lately."

You could have sworn your heart stopped for a moment, and you inched toward Doc as much as the chair would allow.

"Doc, tell me you didn't say anything." you pleaded, gripping the chair's arm.

"'course not, girl. I wouldn't do that to you. And even if I _had_ wanted to, you think I would'a had a chance past trying to get him to forget about the fight?" he answered, a slight smirk on his face.

You smiled wryly, relief washing through you as you re-settled into the chair.

"But you _gotta_ tell him sooner or later, y'know." he continued.

"I dunno, Doc.." you said uncertainly, weighing the situation in your head.

"Listen." he ordered, his voice taking on a more serious tone as he turned to you.

"I've been on this earth for more years than you can probably count, and I've done this relationship thing more times than _I_ can. And I am telling you, bottling up your feelings like that ain't gonna get you nowhere on this. That shi- _stuff_   never ends well."

You laughed softly, not entirely sure what else to do when suddenly presented with such information.

"Doc, I'm not ten anymore, you can curse in front of me." you chuckled.

Doc let out a chuckle of his own and wrapped an arm around you to give a half hug.

"Yeah, I know, but you kids'll always be little to me. Just don't forget what I said, alright? You might be surprised."

You nodded silently, turning your head when the elevator doors opened and Mac stepped out, wearing his casual clothes.

"Hey kid, you ready to go?" Doc asked, standing up and rubbing his hands together.

"Yeah, Doc." Mac answered, nodding as he headed for the doors.

You followed behind the two, wheeling your case behind you and heading out for Doc's dingy old car. Without another word, the three of you climbed into the car and set off back home. Even the radio, accompanied by Doc's best singing efforts, did almost nothing to ease the silence in the group, between you and Mac especially. In all honesty, you weren't entirely sure why there was a silence at all. Sure, you had fought the last day, but now you could sense no animosity between the pair of you. Perhaps Mac was holding onto it longer than you were. Either way, you felt your chances of being able to tell Mac how you felt any time soon slimming more and more.  With being left victim to your mind as you stared out of the window on the way back, you began to wonder if it was just the universe's way of telling you it wasn't meant to be. By the time you arrived at your home town, it was past midnight.

"So, how you kids like the trip?" Doc asked, being the first brave enough to break the silence.

You weren't entirely sure if 'trip' was the right word for it, but you remained silent when Mac decided to answer instead.

"Yeah, it was great, Doc. Next time I'll have 'em on the ropes for sure." he stated confidently.

You smiled lightly to yourself as you listened. It was nice to see Mac back to the way he always was.

"Atta boy, Mac! Good to see you on your feet again!" Doc praised, clenching a fist in the air beside him as if the accentuate his point.

In spite of the encouragement, there was no more talk until Doc pulled up beside Mac's place, though the mood seemed to have shifted considerably for the better.

"Alright kid, I'll see you at the gym bright and early two days time, 'ight?" Doc asked, craning his neck around to watch Mac climb out of the back.

"You kiddin' me? I'll be there tomorrow." Mac declared.

"Oh, sure. Not like _I_ need rest or anything." Doc grumbled good-naturedly.

"You spent the entire trip resting." you intervened, a smile creeping onto your face.

"By the _pool._ "

"What ever happened to not speakin' unless spoken to?" Doc muttered, settling back to facing forward.

With a quiet chuckle you turned to Mac, determined to say something before the next time you met.

"See you later, Mac!" you called, with as much enthusiasm as your tired body could muster.

"Uh yeah, bye (firstname)." Mac responded, almost dismissively so as he closed the door and started heading up to his house.

You sank back into the seat and stared out the window, too shocked to know whether you were upset at him or not. Earlier in the hotel room it had seemed everything would be alright by the way you two acted, but blowing you off like that was pretty counter productive.

"Ah, girl.." Doc said quietly, as if reading your thoughts.

"He doesn't mean to be that way. He just has a lot of things to think about, is all. I mean, I know we don' act like it, but we guys got feelings too, believe it or not."

"I know Doc, I know." you answered.

"I just thought he was over the loss already. He acted like it."

"We-Uh, hm." Doc stammered, leaning back in his seat with a pensive expression. After a lengthy silence he piped up again.

"You- uh, you know after you went up to your room last night?" Doc asked, earning a nod from you.

"Well, Mac- and you _can't_ tell 'em I told you this- he cried."

You stared at the seat in front of you, underwhelmed.

"So? I've seen Mac cry over boxing before." you responded, shrugging.

"No, I-" Doc tried, then gave up to mutter something under his breath.

"Look, you got time for me to show you somethin'?" he asked.

"Yeah. I didn't give mom and dad any specific time." you stated.

"Good." Doc said, starting up the car again and getting on the road.

Before long, you arrived at the gym, with Doc quickly stepping out and beckoning you. He unlocked the building and scooted you inside, leading you to the locker rooms. Once there he stopped you and produced a small key, holding it out until you took it.

"You know which one's Mac's. I got some other stuff to do in here, so..." Doc trailed off, clasping his hands together before rubbing them fervently and moving off elsewhere.

You watched him leaving, curious at his unusually nervous demeanor, before looking down to the key in your hand again. You had spent countless hours in here watching and talking with Mac, but you had never realized that you had never seen the inside of his locker before until the opportunity presented itself. Moving forward, you headed for it and quickly slid the key in, turning it before pulling the door open.  Whatever suspense had been building inside you was quickly dashed upon taking a look inside, finding only two pairs of clean shorts and a half empty bottle of deodorant. Unless Doc was subtly suggesting that you take a shower or start dressing more provocatively, you couldn't see much point in the whole exercise. With an indifferent shrug you closed the locker door halfway until something stuck on the inside of it caught your eye. You pushed it open again and took a better look before frowning in confusion. On the inside of the door was stuck a printed version of your phone's wallpaper, though it looked worn, with the tape peeling as if it had been taken out and handled repeatedly. In fact, one side seemed more worse for wear than the other, with the tape just barely clutching for dear life. Without much thought, you lifted a finger to the more worn side and gently touched it, only to have that side break off and the rest of the photo swing horizontally as if on a hinge. After a fleeting moment of panic, you noticed something written on the inside, and tentatively turned the photo more to read it.

'Tell her, kid. She can't wait forever.'

Despite the simplicity of the sentence, your entire body seemed to seize up as you read it over and over. This peculiar yet satisfying burning sensation fired through your body, growing in intensity until you felt your heart throb with it. All too suddenly it was taken from you when a voice called out from the entrance.

"Doc? Where are ya?" Mac's voice rang from beyond the locker room entrance.

A sudden urge to hide what you had found came over, but in your excitement you ended up removing the fragile tape from the locker door and swiping at the falling photo before it fluttered to the ground. You bent quickly to retrieve it, only to have your forehead connect with the locker door rather hard. You involuntarily roared a curse as you pressed a hand to your now lightly bleeding forehead, hearing the locker room doors open and close in the background.

"(Firstname)? Did Doc text you t-what ar- Is that  _my_ locker?" Mac brought a flurry of questions with each step that brought him closer.

With shock and adrenaline coursing through you, you managed to ignore the pain long enough to snatch up the photo and stuff it in the locker before slamming it shut.

"Um, I'unno, _is_ this your locker? I was- I was just cleaning up some for Doc, y'know?" you said hastily, still facing the locker as your voice trembled with the bombardment of emotions upon you.

Instead of the response you expected, there was a silence behind you, and you chewed the inside of your cheek worriedly as you tried to wait it out.

"Did-did you see it?" Mac asked quietly. You both knew he didn't have to specify.

"Yeah." you answered, so quietly that you barely heard yourself, so you gave a nod.

You heard Mac sigh heavily, and another silence followed before he spoke again.

"I-I'm sorry, (firstname). I didn't want you to find out this way. Or at all. Maybe. I don't know what I wanted." he muttered.

At last you turned to Mac, finding that he had taken seat on one of the benches, with his head cast downward. It felt as though your heart was about to break out of your chest and say what you wanted to say in your place, so you breathed deeply before stepping over and sitting beside Mac, clenching your fists so tightly that your palms stung from your nails digging into them. It was almost the polar opposite of how you had planned it to happen, but this was finally your opportunity to make your feelings known, and right after Mac had done it himself.

 "W-well..." you began, stopping to swallow in your drying throat.

"M-maybe what you wanted- or _want_ \- or whatever, is-is what _I_ wanted-want-whatever too." you finished quietly. Despite your attempt at lifting the mood by joking in your sentence, you couldn't even find a fake smile in you to put on.

Mac's head slowly lifted, as if he were afraid to undo it all by moving too quickly and startling you, but the moment your eyes connected that same feeling wracked your body and completely dominated your being. Mac inched closer to you, shuffling his body over until your skin was just barely not touching his. He looked you up and down before stopping at your forehead with a small frown.

"You're hurt." he mentioned, in a voice that was all to the same as his regular one.

You couldn't help but laugh at his obliteration of the moment before nodding.

"No shit." you replied quietly, remembering a similar situation.

Mac chuckled before leaning in to take a closer look, presenting you with the smell of his deodorant and a slightly embarrassing blush on your face.

"Doesn't look too bad." he concluded, resting back and depriving you of his scent.

"In fact, that's probably a good thing. If I had a first aid kit here you'd probably just smack it onto the floor, right?" he teased, smirking at you.

"Funny." you replied in a flat tone, smiling back.

"How many lockers did you have to punch before you came up with that one?"

Mac's jaw shifted to the side slightly in faux annoyance as he raised an eyebrow at you. You stared at each other for a few moments before Mac spoke again.

"Look, it's late, we better get some sleep." he said, standing up and offering a hand to you.

You took the hand, standing up and smiling inwardly when neither of you let go.

"So that means I win, right?" you asked as you both walked toward the exit.

"Win what?" Mac replied.

"You know, you couldn't think of anything to say in response, and then you gave up, so I win, right?" you insisted.

There was a pause before the quietest of sighs came from Mac.

"Go to bed, (firstname.)"

**Author's Note:**

> When I started this I thought "Hey, I'll write a quick little fic in a few hours and stick it up! The fanbase for it is so small that even a small fic should be a welcome edition!"
> 
> This took me 6 days.
> 
> I don't even know why. For two days straight I worked on this fic for 4 consecutive hours, and sure, I changed it about 6 times before I decided on the path I wanted for it, but that should not make it take as long as it did. So I hope the entire little mac fics fanbase, like, all 12 of you, enjoy this fic.
> 
> (I would still write another if you guys want. This time preferably one that actually has a smooch or two in it. I could just extend this one a tiny bit too if that's what you guys want.) Let me know with a comment!


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